


Wholehearted

by Kiranokira



Series: Domesticity [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background Allura/Lotor/Romelle, Established Relationship, M/M, Male-Female Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 15:07:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17123660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiranokira/pseuds/Kiranokira
Summary: Every year, Keith leaves the country to visit his dad, and Lance misses him more each time.





	Wholehearted

Keith visits his father in the States once a year, but the time he goes is never consistent. His family doesn’t acknowledge many holidays (it took dating Lance to make Keith even remember that Valentine’s Day exists), so Keith just sort of chooses four or five days at random every year and shuttles himself off to the suburbs of Texas to hang out with his father.

When Keith and Lance were still living apart, the separation was noticeable but bearable. Instead of meeting for a date after work, they video called each other—sometimes twice a day.

Of course, Lance has since admitted that when Keith was in Texas during the first year of their relationship, he tried to restrain himself from writing and calling as much as he wanted to.

“But you called and wrote to me all the time before we were dating,” Keith pointed out.

Lance lifted a shoulder and said, “I was worried you'd think I was too into you.”

Keith made a face as if he couldn't comprehend how Lance could think that would make Keith anything but deliriously happy.

Now that they're living together, spending time apart is far harder. Especially now—with three years’ experience of meals and dates and waking up together and trading absent kisses whenever the urge strikes them—the five days Keith spends in the States in May is bordering on excruciating.

“This is just sad,” Lance tells Allura, upside-down on her sofa with one leg hooked over the back and the other leg draped over an arm. “I woke up at, like, three in the morning ‘cos I dreamed he was next to me and when I tried to hug him, he wasn't there.”

Allura smiles at him over her mug, snug in the armchair opposite the sofa and wrapped in a thick-knit violet blanket. “I don't know about sad. That's really quite sweet, Lance.”

“No, it's not,” Lance groans. He lets gravity pull his weight until he's lying flat on the cushions, staring morosely up at her almond-painted ceiling. “If he weren't coming home tonight I'd be on my way to the States, I swear. I thought I was clingy when we started dating, but I've gotten _so_ much worse.”

Allura takes a long sip of her tea, the corners of her eyes creased with amusement. “I can commiserate,” she admits. “When Romelle or Lotor is gone, I always have trouble sleeping.”

Lance points at her with vehemence. “Yeah! Right? Like, you get used to them there and then when they're not, your brain’s like…unsettled.”

“Yes, and I usually sleep in between them, so it's even more disconcerting. Like one of my castle walls is down.”

“Aww, ‘lura, that's cute.”

Her answering smile is tinged with a lick of whipped cream from her cocoa.

Fifteen minutes later, Lotor comes home with a hacking cough, Allura stands up to go feel his forehead, and Romelle emerges from her office upstairs, musing aloud about making ravioli for dinner as she descends the stairs. In the warm, organized chaos that unfurls as the three of them convene in the hallway to exchange greetings and stories from the day, Lance curls a hand around Allura’s shoulder and says, “I'm gonna go get Keith from the airport.”

She gives him a smile and hugs him tight. “I hope you sleep better tonight,” she says, a hint of amusement tracing her words.

Brimming with bridled energy, Lance makes his way to the train. Every thirty seconds or so he unlocks his phone to answer a message from Hunk, update Shiro and Adam on Keith’s flight status, or just stare at his chat with Keith, hoping each time he looks at it that “Read” will appear underneath Lance’s most recent message telling Keith he's on his way to meet him.

In the crowd of people waiting at the arrivals gate, Lance tries not to shift his weight from side to side too obviously. He doesn't entirely succeed though—he's excited. This is his favorite part of meeting Keith at the airport: the anticipation and the rush of knowing what he's about to experience. This is the steepest part of the roller coaster, where he knows he's about to feel the first real joy he's felt in five whole, long, arduous days.

The first flash of red leather through the gate has Lance surging forward, his mouth spreading into an eager grin. He weaves through the throng of people without grazing a single one, his eyes fixed on his favorite tired-eyed boy.

When Keith sees Lance, he smiles wide and steers his suitcase off to an empty pocket of space. He's barely stopped moving when Lance slams into him and catches him in a bear hug.

The exaggerated winded gust that hits Lance’s ear fills him with fondness.

The fingers that brush his hair from his nape and massage his neck urge him to close his eyes and enjoy the sensation. The friendly touches from everyone else are always nice, but Keith’s carry years of familiarity.

“You really didn't have to come get me,” Keith murmurs, like he does every year.

“So, what? I have to _have to_ to come pick you up?” Lance teases. He sways back and forth, taking Keith with him.

But if Keith planned to respond, it's swallowed up in a yawn muffled against Lance’s shoulder.

“Let's get you home,” Lance says.

They opt for the bus over the train, just for the added element of darkness so Keith can nap on the drive back into the city. Halfway there, Lance laces their fingers and just looks at the dark fan of Keith’s eyelashes against his skin.

“Missed you,” he whispers.

Keith visibly tries and fails to conceal his tiny answering smile.

**Author's Note:**

> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/hadakanomind)


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